Bill Gates banks on Apple Pay to bring mobile payments mainstream

Former Microsoft chairman Bill Gates had a lot of positive things to say about Apple Pay and the potential Apple has to take mobile payments mainstream. Highlighting the security behind Apple Pay and the fact that you no longer need a physical credit card, Gates says that the standards-based approach Apple is using will help mobile payments gain critical mass.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Gates said that Apple Pay is a great example of how cell phone-based payments can be conducted in a very inexpensive manner.

Despite competing services already available on rival platforms, like Google Wallet, Gates seems to think that Apple's entry into the market will help everyone succeed because Apple can get people to adopt mobile payment to gain critical mass.

All the platforms, whether it's Apple's or Google's or Microsoft, you'll see this payment capability get built in. That's built on industry standard protocols, NFC. And these companies have all participated in getting those going. Apple will help make sure it gets to critical mass for all the devices.

Though definitely not first on the market, do you think Apple Pay will make mobile payments fashionable?